GURPS Fantasy Warriors Session 24: The Demonwar Begins

Characters:

Granmarg The Striking Vanguard, The Boulderstruck, Member of the Earthling Triumvirate
Pomegranite The Treefallen, The Spymaster

Mielikki The Field Marshal, Member of the Earthling Triumvirate

Thicket The Grandmaster Terramorpher, Member of the Earthling Triumvirate

 

Demons and Gods

For now, the elves and earthlings failed to decide who would become their triumvirate Emperor, partly due to Pomegranite's and Thicket's anti-dwarf sentiment, and partly because even if it was going to be a dwarf, they'd need to go inform them.  Since the Demonwar was starting in the Dwarven Undersands, they could just go meet with them and discuss it with the dwarven King Barrend.  The other two emperors were decided rather quickly by comparison: Edelina would be the Empress of Lumene, Tauschun, and the Segretan League, while Curzo would be Emperor of Halberst, Baronde, and Wrost.

 

The rulers of the various provinces all left to raise their armies, with Halberst and Baronde still planning to devote half of each of theirs to deal with the uprising in Baronde as had been agreed.  On the morning of their departure, Pomegranite and Uthemar of the elves had a private meeting a ways southeast of the college, away from prying eyes and under the wards of Pomegranite's Path of Secrets.  Theren, the Young Heron and Blademaster, would accompany the earthlings so that the elves' greatest warrior could join the battle sooner.  More importantly, Pomegranite asked what they knew about Terra and the threat she represented.

 

Uthemar stated that, though they couldn't be sure, it was his belief that Terra was a demon.  Every being that came from another reality were collectively referred to as demons, and, in his experience, were hostile.  As for how she'd gotten into their reality without a Demongate, as far as he knew, the demons had built the gates themselves, but must have had a way into this reality prior to that.  Perhaps they could punch smaller holes like the portal under Bedrock.  There was, unfortunately, no quick way to test whether Terra was a demon, and as demons could appear in a bewildering variety of forms, including some shapeshifters, they could not go by her appearance, though golem-like demons had been witnessed in the past. 

 

GURPS Fantasy Warriors Session 23: The Imperial Council

Characters:

Granmarg The Striking Vanguard, The Boulderstruck, Member of the Earthling Triumvirate
Pomegranite The Treefallen, The Spymaster

Mielikki The Field Marshal, Member of the Earthling Triumvirate

Thicket The Grandmaster Terramorpher, Member of the Earthling Triumvirate

 

The Wrost Question

Curzo, now Grand Magister after his appointment by election had been finalized that morning, was the last to enter the council chamber, just as Crown Prince Tye of Baronde was leaving to put down the rebellion that had broken out in the north of his kingdom.  Those present took their seats around the 8-sided stone table had been raised from the floor, and the imperial council was called to order.  Mielikki laid out the earthling position of distributing the power of the Emperor to three lesser co-Emperors, a type of governance that had been proven to work in the Highland Forests over the centuries.  Grand Magister Curzo chimed in to point out that this would also offer the provinces much more autonomy, a concession which would hopefully allow everyone to unit against the crises of the Void Beast and looming Demonwar that the Empire now faced.

 

Dimitri of Wrost began to voice their approval, but was cut off by King Neville Tallfellow of Baronde who claimed that they first had to determine if the new Republic of Wrost would actually be recognized as the rightful rulers of the province, or as usurpers.  Unsurprisingly, the monarchy of Lumene didn't want to recognize them, while the city states of the Segretan League were fine with a republic.  Uthemar of the elves was able to sway Queen Edelina by advising that it would be best to avoid a lengthy civil war now, before the end times.  The King of Baronde was still unswayed, citing the rebellion in his homeland that, according to him, had clearly been incited by the orcs of Wrost, despite their claims of innocence.

 

The earthlings knew for a fact that Wrost had been fomenting dissent in the College and the Highland Forests all the way across the Empire before they'd caught their spy, so it was extremely unlikely that they'd done nothing in the Kingdom of Baronde, which was on their southern border.  Mielikki suggested that Wrost cooperate and raise an army, to be commanded by Baronde, to put down the rebellion.  Despite their reservations at putting down a rebellion that was likely very close to them ideologically, Dimitri took the position that it was more important to show they could cooperate with the monarchies in the Empire.  King Tallfellow was still unpleased, but seeing that Wrost would be recognized regardless of what actions he took, and with Baronde on the back foot with the Path of Prophecy gone, he ultimately agreed to the plan.

GURPS Fantasy Warriors Session 22: A Sense of the Divine

Characters:

Granmarg The Striking Vanguard, The Boulderstruck, Member of the Earthling Triumvirate
Pomegranite The Treefallen, The Spymaster

Mielikki The Field Marshal, Member of the Earthling Triumvirate

Thicket The Grandmaster Terramorpher, Member of the Earthling Triumvirate

 

What Makes A God

The Triumvirate sent a messenger to inform Ulrich of their goddess problem, and then decided to screen their advisors for those who were true believers.  Most of them were in the clear, though several were unsure what difference it made whether she was truly their god or a "only" a being capable of all the same feats.  Mielikki's all claimed to not believe, but he had his suspicions that they were just saying what he wanted to hear.  They finally found a single sympathizer in Groutite, one of Granmarg's men, though even he was hardly a zealot, and when questioned as to where his loyalties lay, suggested that they could work out their problems with Terra if they went and talked to her.

 

Granmarg didn't accept this fencesitting and they escalated into an argument about Terra killing the priests.  Eventually, this was settled by Granmarg stating that in the event of a hypothetical civil war in the Highland Forests, he would surrender to the people rather than kill earthlings, even if that would result in the earthlings he was supporting being put to death, because at least he wouldn't be personally responsible.  After a bit more discussion with the other members of the Triumvirate, due to his insistence that he wouldn't send "anybody else to go die", Granmarg went to meet with Terra.

 

The crystal sphere, or New Temple, as it was coming to be known, had been readily adopted by the priesthood, and many of the faithful packed the outer ring of chambers.  When Granmarg announced himself to an attendant priest, the man bowed and led him in to the heart of the geode where Terra's personal chamber lay.  On the way, Granmarg asked if any more people had been killed by Terra, or if that had been a one-time thing, and the priest replied that only the one group of heretics had been smote.  They arrived at the doors to Terra's chamber, and the priest ushered Granmarg in.

GURPS Fantasy Warriors Session 21: Terra Returns

Characters:

Granmarg The Striking Vanguard, The Boulderstruck, Member of the Earthling Triumvirate
Pomegranite The Treefallen, The Spymaster

Mielikki The Field Marshal, Member of the Earthling Triumvirate

Thicket The Grandmaster Terramorpher, Member of the Earthling Triumvirate

 

Winter

Granmarg schemed with the Minervan faction of the temple to gain political influence in exchange for favours, while Thicket held combat training seminars for the terramorphers who had been working at the Mountain's Maw.  As the first winter snow fell, there was a solar eclipse.  According to the prophecy of the end times from Wrost, the sun would flicker 13 times, and there had been one other eclipse, so they still had 11 to go.  That was plenty of time!  In the coming weeks, Mielikki received grim news from Duke Muller: a sickness had spread to the hawks captured in the great aviary, and all had died.  It seemed that mass training was impossible and it would take years for the population to recover.

Meanwhile, at the College, Pomegranite noticed that Duke Bachofen was working on Eva's team to create a portal great enough to allow entire armies to go into the Paths.  He arranged to meet with him to discuss their progress and Bachofen reported that though it would take several years, they should complete the development before the Void Beast arrived at the Path of the Void.  He congratulated Pomegranite on their success in Tauschun, and then informed him that he'd noticed Eva seemed to have lost some of her drive and was no longer pushing to open the Forbidden Paths.

 

Perhaps she was in a slump after the initial proposal to open the Forbidden Paths had been granted and then walked back.  He was confident, however, that it wasn't a political move, as giving up on her principles wouldn't win many votes among magisters in the ongoing election for the next leader of the College.  Bachofen was dismissed, and Pomegranite passed on the relevant information to the Triumvirate.  Later, he would dispatch messengers to Lumene, Wrost, and Baronde inviting them to a council at the College that Spring to discuss reorganizing the Empire and cooperation against the Void Beast.

GURPS Fantasy Warriors Session 20: The Crown Sundered

Characters:

Granmarg The Striking Vanguard, The Boulderstruck, Member of the Earthling Triumvirate
Pomegranite The Treefallen, The Spymaster

Mielikki The Field Marshal, Member of the Earthling Triumvirate

Thicket The Grandmaster Terramorpher, Member of the Earthling Triumvirate

 

The Final Blow

Pomegranite ordered his troops to fire on a crowd of undead, dispatching them just as Luana charged through the gap he'd created and into his formation.  The two met on the field again, and moved toward each other cautiously.  Luana made the first strike, but Pomegranite nimbly dodged out of the way before lunging forward, swinging his knives at her crown.  The blades pierced the metal, and there was an ear-splitting thunderclap as it was thrown from Luana's head and exploded into fragments.

 

The force of the explosion knocked everyone within several hundred feet into the air and pushed the torrential rain out in a bubble.  It was loud enough that, a mile away, Mielikki and Granmarg staggered, and Ulrich would later confirm that it had been audible even far to the north where the Imperials had been fighting.

 

Luana was holding her head in her hands, still reeling, by the time that Pomegranite had regained his feet and ordered her to surrender.  She seemed disoriented and asked who the hell he was while her left hand moved toward something half-submerged in the mud.  Following her motion with his eyes, Pomegranite saw only some fragments of bone or splintered wood, but shouted for her to stop what she was doing.  Suddenly noticing that her arm had been moving of its own accord, Luana recoiled and leapt to her feet, kicking at whatever she had been reaching for while shouting to get that thing away from her.

 

Again, Pomegranite told her to surrender.  Luana glanced over at her heavy executioner's axe and asked if she had been wielding it in their battle.  When Pomegranite confirmed it, she replied that he had her weapon and so she had no choice.  The Segretans lay down their arms, Luana was taken prisoner, and the other earthling commanders regrouped on Pomegranite's position.  As he approached Granmarg had a fleeting thought to search the mud for something, but ignored it.  

 

GURPS Fantasy Warriors Session 19: Attrition

Characters:

Granmarg The Striking Vanguard, The Boulderstruck, Member of the Earthling Triumvirate
Pomegranite The Treefallen, The Spymaster

Mielikki The Field Marshal, Member of the Earthling Triumvirate

Thicket The Grandmaster Terramorpher, Member of the Earthling Triumvirate

 

Stalling Luana

With Granmarg chased from the field, Luana wheeled her formation around and charged toward Pomegranite, looking to displace him and then seize the southern flank.  From there, she could charge north into the sides of the earthling formations, easily routing them, before continuing on and into their Imperial allies fighting to the north.  The two commanders spotted each other, and as Luana leapt over a creek formed by the torrential rain, Pomegranite got a good look at her artifacts.

 

The golden crown on her brow and the headsman's axe she carried were both so powerfully magical that even a non-magister would be able to tell, as were a bone horn and a scroll case worn at her hip.  Before she could close, he tried to see if he could notice anything about the horn.  It was of fine make, with a golden band around the bell, but more importantly it bore glowing inscriptions of a chariot and of a man leaping over a fence, which he determined meant that it was granting her increased agility.  Pomegranite used his Shadow magic to split into 5 mirror images, but Luana saw through his trick and rushed at the real one, then yelled for him to kneel.

He fought off some sort of compulsion, then slipped inside Luana's reach while fending off her axe-blow with one of his paired knives.  She barely backed away from a thrust to the heart, visibly exhausted from her earlier duel with Granmarg, then swung at Pomegranite's neck before catching the base of her axe with one foot and spinning it around his guard; it had been a feint, and Pomegranite only narrowly ducked to the side before taking a step back to try to analyze her other artifacts.

GURPS Fantasy Warriors Session 18: The Battle of the Flooded Fields

Characters:

Granmarg The Striking Vanguard, The Boulderstruck, Member of the Earthling Triumvirate
Pomegranite The Treefallen, The Spymaster

Mielikki The Field Marshal, Member of the Earthling Triumvirate

Thicket The Grandmaster Terramorpher, Member of the Earthling Triumvirate

 

Initial Maneuvers

As the earthling armies finished crossing to the floodplains outside Kaskorata, sheets of rain began to pour down.  Empty fields and abandoned villages separated them from and the Segretans' undead forces, as well as a single abandoned fort in the middle of the battlefield.  Those walls would offer protection against arrows and offensive magic, and so the earthlings resolved to take it.  Swiftbreeze, one of Granmarg's attendants, was dispatched to the frontlines to lead the charge.  His formation charged the fort and eradicated the freshly-exhumed undead holding it successfully.

 

Luana charged up to the frontlines and from quite some distance reanimated many of the undead that had been slain; fortunately, Swiftbreeze was not caught off guard and his troops held the line.  The rest of the Segretan commanders advanced more cautiously, keeping their troops in dense formations.  In a thunderous charge, Granmarg's formation slammed into the Segretan center and slaughtered them, men and undead alike.  Thicket and Mielikki marched north to meet Duccio and Aginor, while Pomegranite held the southern flank opposite Dina.

 

The stone bridges bridges they'd so hastily constructed with magic were disrupting the flow of the river, and with the added pressure of the rainfall, water surged up over the bank and the farmland behind the earthlings rapidly flooded.  Pomegranite's formation launched a hail of boulders at Luana's troops that killed hundreds, and she and her guard retreated, while Aginor's orders fell on deaf ears as Ulrich's assassins disrupted the chain of command.  In a stroke of luck, Luana's troops were too shocked to act as well, and rallying them apparently distracted her enough from her dark arts that no more dead arose.  Meanwhile, Duccio's magisters froze the rain above Mielikki's troops, causing spear-sized icicles to rain down on and skewer them by the dozens as they struggled through knee-deep water.